David A. Shirk

Founded in 1834 and affiliated with the Episcopal Church—but interfaith and inclusive in terms of its trustees, staff, and service to mariners—the Seamen’s Church Institute (SCI) is the most comprehensive mariners’ service agency in North America. Annually, its chaplains visit thousands of vessels in the Port of New York and New Jersey and along 2,200 miles of America’s inland waterways extending into the Gulf of Mexico. SCI’s maritime education facilities provide navigational training to over 1,600 mariners each year through online learning and simulator-based facilities (located in Houston, TX and Paducah, KY). The Institute and its maritime attorneys are recognized as leading advocates for merchant mariners by the United States Government, including the US Congress, the US Coast Guard, and the Department of Homeland Security, as well as the United Nations, the International Maritime Organization, the International Labour Organization and maritime trade associations.